The House of Strife II: Rebirth
by GeneralQuistis-Zhakeena
Summary: The sequel to "The House of Strife". More deaths occur, even if the ShinRas try to investigate and put an end to the "curse"... and putting themselves in danger in the process.
1. Marlene

The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By GQ and Zhak

Disclaimer: We don't own anything

GQ's notes: This is the sequel to _The House of Strife_… doye.

Zhak's notes: Marlene is a young adult here. Ehehe!

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Chapter One: Marlene

Marlene stepped inside the school grounds of the International School in Sector 1. Since there were no more Turks in ShinRa and they were having a hard time recruiting, Tifa just asked her a favor to fetch her children from school. Marlene watched as children passed by her, looking up at her curiously. She forgot to tell Tifa that she would just be walking without any bodyguards, but anyway, she knows that the children that she would be fetching would be capable of protecting themselves, knowing their parents…

"Auntie Marlene!!!" Theodore ShinRa greeted. He was a 10 year-old boy who looks a lot like his father except that he got his mother's eyes. Running after him was his younger sister, a 9 year-old girl who looks like a blonde version of Tifa. Marlene smiled happily upon seeing them. "Hello, kids." She greeted as she embraced the two.

"Wheee!!! You're fetching us?" Lavinia asked happily. Marlene nodded. "But I have no car. Is walking okay with you?" she asked.

The two exchanged glances before replying in unison, "Okay!" with happy smiles on their faces.

"But can we stop by a comic book store first?" Theodore asked.

"Not again?!" Lavinia wailed.

"Come on, I have to have the new issue!" Theodore told her.

"I thought you've subscribed already?!" she snapped.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop by the comic book store and then I'll buy you kids some ice cream okay?" she asked. The two children cheered happily. "Wheee!!! Thanks Auntie Marlene!" Theodore said happily as they walked out of the school grounds. "So, where is this comic book store that you're talking about?" Marlene asked.

"It's in Sector 2." Theodore replied.

Marlene froze, her smile fading a bit upon hearing the name of the place. She knew what happened there, of course, because she knew the victims personally… very personally.

Theodore was leading the way while Marlene and Lavinia conversed about dolls and teddy bears… and they did not realize where they had passed by until he stopped walking and stared up into a house.

"What's wrong, Theo?" Marlene asked, stopping. She suddenly shivered as a cool breeze blew against her towards the direction of the house. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was the old Strife residence. She suddenly lost her words, just staring nervously at the house. There was something creepy about it.

Theodore just tilted his head to the left, staring up at the house smiling slightly with a lost stare.

"Come on, Theodore, let's go." Lavinia said, feeling shivers running up her spine. She tugged her older brother's sleeve. But Theodore took no notice. Dropping his bag on the sidewalk, he began running at full speed towards the house. "Theodore!!!" she squealed before running after him.

Marlene was stunned. She saw the two children enter the house. She ran after them, but once she reached the gate, she stopped in her tracks when she thought she saw someone from her peripheral vision peering over her from the window on the second floor. She looked up at the window but there was no one there.

Silence.

Then she just heard some crashing noises from inside followed by the sound of the little girl screaming.

"Lavinia!" Marlene called out as she rushed further into the house going to the front door. She instantly entered the house and stepped inside. She stopped in her tracks when she realized that the whole house was suddenly silent.

"Lavinia? Theodore?" she called out, hoping for responses.

No answer.

She began to get worried. Just as she stepped forward away from the door, it just shut by itself, making her turn around to it again in surprise. She reached for the doorknob and tried to open it, but she froze when she heard strange croaking noises coming from the stairs.

"Oua-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a….."

She shuddered in fear before slowly turning around to look at the stairs… what she saw made her scream.


	2. Rufus

The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By GQ and Zhak

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Chapter Two: Rufus

Rufus checked his watch and saw that it was already 6 in the evening. "Where are the children?" he thought to himself. He scheduled a family weekend for Junon but his two youngest children aren't home yet. Tifa just sat still on the chair facing his desk with a worried look on her face.

Rufus wanted to treat his family for dinner in a seafood restaurant by the Junon Harbor at 7 in the evening in celebration of Tifa expecting another baby. It was only her first month of pregnancy.

"Maybe Marlene forgot to fetch them." He stated flatly.

"If she did, then the children could've called us already." She said.

Rufus looked at her and shook his head in dismay before getting his mobile phone and dialed Theodore's number, but the computer-operated voice from the network just said, "the number you have dialed does not exist." He raised an eyebrow. "Strange…" He tried Lavinia's number next. The operator said the same thing.

Slate (the eldest son and the heir), looking boredly around the room, told him, "Maybe their batteries conked out or something. Doesn't Marlene have a phone?"

Rufus shook his head. "Barret should have bought her one… I'll make it a point next time. Speaking of which…" he dialed Barret's number.

"Hello?"

"Wallace? This is Rufus ShinRa."

"What is it? I'm busy!"

"I just want to ask if your daughter is home already. And if she is, may I please speak with her?"

Barret paused. "Naw. She ain't home yet. I'm beginnin' to worry myself. I jus' left home ta look for her."

Tifa noticed the look on Rufus' face. "Rufus? Is Marlene home?"

Rufus was silent for a few moments before speaking up again. "I… see. Call me as soon as you find her. I'll send a search party as well."

"Thanks. Owe ya one, Prez." Barret hung up.

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The celebration was cancelled. Rufus spent his evening in his 70th floor office, waiting for calls from the troops he dispatched.

Tifa worriedly looked at him. "Rufus? Any word from your troops yet?"

Rufus shook his head. "Tifa, I'll handle things in here. You'd better rest. You can't afford stressing yourself like this."

"I see." She paused as she looked down at the huge city below through the window. "Morrigan and Slate also went out to search for them too, you know."

"What about Samara?"

"I'm worried about her. She kept telling me, 'I don't feel him anymore'. But she wouldn't explain anything…"

Rufus frowned. Samara is Theodore's twin. If her intuition meant anything at all… "I'll take care of things, Tifa, don't worry."

She nodded before she left the office.

Rufus sighed as he resumed trying to track down his children by the computer… in vain. He stopped typing when the phone rang. "Yes? What is it?"

"Sir? This is Flight Gamma, the party you sent to search Sector 2. Your son Theodore was here… we found his bag on the sidewalk."

Rufus stood up swiftly. "Sector 2? Where in Sector 2?!" he demanded angrily.

"In front of the old Strife residence, your Excellency."

He slammed the phone down. "Dammit! Leave my children alone!" he said to no one in particular as he went out of the office and pressed the down button on the elevator controls.

Heidegger and Palmer, who were waiting for the President outside to report something about the searches, jumped back when he emerged from the office and trailed behind him. "Gyah! President Rufus! Where are you going?!"

"I'm going to Sector 2!" he announced angrily.

"Unescorted?!" Palmer exclaimed.

Tifa emerged from one of the rooms and said in concern, "Rufus, what are you planning to do? The searches aren't over yet!"

"I'm going to Sector 2…" he repeated. The elevator doors opened. He closed the doors before the three of them could get in.

"Mr. President! Wait!" Heidegger pressed the down button repeatedly. After a few moments of waiting, the other elevator opened. They rushed in.

"What has gotten into him?!" Tifa exclaimed.

Reaching the first floor, Rufus immediately rushed towards the storage room. Employees all around jumped when they saw him. They had never seen the President with that kind of determination… unescorted, even.

In the storage room, he gathered all the cans of fuel he could and rushed out again. He took the stairs to the basement, got his car and dumped the cans in the passenger seat. He zoomed off in his car, heading towards the general direction of Sector 2.

He barely saw Heidegger, Palmer and Tifa hop in a vehicle of their own and follow him.

"Bastard!" Rufus shouted as soon as he got down from his car and in front of the house. Carrying the cans of fuel with him, he went in the yard and started pouring fuel over the plants and on the walls.

The other car stopped, and out ran Heidegger, Palmer and Tifa. "Rufus!" she screamed. She caught up to him and grabbed his wrist as he splashed fuel. "Stop that! You're acting irrational!"

"Let me be, Tifa!" he broke free of her grasp and ran inside the house.

"Gyah!" Heidegger ran after him. Palmer had to accompany Tifa in the house.

"Mr. President! Please stop!" he pleaded. Rufus didn't listen. Like a madman he splashed more cans in the living room, the kitchen, and every room on the first floor.

"No! This house killed my children! This is my revenge!" he shouted. Tifa gasped. "Rufus! What are you saying?!"

"That's right, Tifa! Now get out of here!" he fumbled in his jacket for a lighter. He took it out of his pocket and prepared to light it up when a grayish blue hand grabbed his wrist.

He looked and saw Sora looking up at him with forlorn eyes. "Argh!" he dropped the lighter.

Heidegger and Palmer took this opportunity to grab him by the arms to stop him. "Mr. President! Please calm down!!!" Palmer squealed.

Rufus started kicking around wildly. "Let me go, pigs!" he growled.

He stopped when Heidegger and Palmer froze. They were staring at Tifa. He looked at her… and froze too.

Tifa swallowed as she saw them stare at her. "What's… wrong?" she stammered.

The three men couldn't answer. They were stunned by the sight they saw… Sora was next to her, a palm pressed to her abdomen. Turning to Rufus, he smiled… sinisterly.

The President snapped from his trance and ran to Tifa. "Don't touch her!" he yelled.

"What?!" Tifa said in surprise. Before she knew it, Rufus was grabbing her wrist and making her run out of the house.

"Mr. President!" yelled Heidegger and Palmer in unison. They chased after the couple, but they stopped in their tracks when the front door closed on its own.

The couple outside stopped, too, when the door closed. "… Rufus?" Tifa whispered fearfully.

They shrank back in terror when they heard Heidegger and Palmer screaming bloody murder.

"What do we do?!?!?" Tifa screamed.

Rufus took her wrist again and ran towards the car. "Tifa, get in!" he yelled.

She hopped in the front passenger seat as Rufus started the car. They zoomed off towards Sector 1.

"Oh my god! Rufus!" Tifa screamed.

"What?!" Rufus yelled. His eyes caught a glimpse of the rear-view mirror… and saw a pair of ghastly hands creeping over his shoulder. A head peeked from behind the seat. "Ou-a-a-a-a-a-a"

"ARGH!" Rufus lost control of the car. They collided against an electric post. The couple's foreheads violently hit the front of the glass and they lost consciousness.

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Tifa regained consciousness a few minutes later. Flinching from the collision, she touched her forehead and felt blood. "Oh… my baby…?!"

She felt her abdomen. She didn't feel anything painful from down there. She sighed in relief. She owed it to a miracle that her baby survived.

She looked over to Rufus. He was still unconscious. She saw that he was in a worse condition than her. "Rufus?" her voice cracked. He didn't respond.

"I'd… better… call… somebody…" she whispered as she took out a phone and began dialing.

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	3. Riku

The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By General Quistis and Zhakeena

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Chapter 3: Riku

"How is he, doctor?" asked Tifa outside his room.

The doctor shook his head. "I don't understand it at all…" he mumbled as he wrote some notes on a clipboard.  
"What's wrong with him?" she asked. She swallowed, anticipating bad news.

"Well… I don't know, honestly. You both only suffered from minor head injuries only and a few scratches here and there, nothing serious. Nothing broken. But… I don't know. President Rufus doesn't seem to be acting himself."

"What do you mean?"

"He's grown very weak. He can't stand up and walk around like you do, Mrs. ShinRa. He can't even talk properly. If he wants to move around, he has to be on a wheelchair." The doctor shook his head again.

"Oh, dear!" Tifa exclaimed. "Does he have to stay in the hospital?"

"No. We can take him home. I'm not sure if he could function as a President in this state, though."

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"Hey! How are you doing, Kairi?"

Kairi didn't look at Riku. She continued staring in empty space.

"Gee, I wish you would say something…" he said solemnly. He sighed when she didn't respond.

"It's useless. She only talks to Mommy," Samara told Riku.

"I noticed… how long has she been in this state?"

"5 months. She's worse than I am," she replied. "She doesn't like seeing light in her room. I think she sees things when her windows are open…"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "How would you know?"

Samara smiled sadly. "I hear her screaming sometimes…"

He just shook his head in dismay. "Poor girl. First it's Sora… then it's her…" he sighed heavily before taking Kairi's hand in his, squeezing it gently. As he did so, he heard Samara gasp. He turned around to look at her. "What?" he asked.

Samara was staring at their hands in horror, but she could not say anything. He figured that maybe she felt… jealous or something because used to be, he thought he liked Kairi but realized that he only liked her as a younger sister. He instantly let go of Kairi's hand with a confused look on his face. "Well… I think I have to go now." He said softly before he moved away from Kairi. He waved goodbye to Samara. "I'll just call you." He told her, still wondering why she was still staring hard at the empty space beside Kairi.

Riku just forced a smile at her before walking out of the room.

Samara heard the door close and she snapped back into her senses. She looked behind her to see if Riku was still there, but he wasn't. She began to feel nervous as she recalled what she saw: Before Riku held Kairi's hand, Sora was already holding it… and what Riku held was Sora's hand. She saw the look in Sora's face. He was glaring angrily at Riku as if he wanted to harm him because of jealousy.

She turned back to Kairi again and was surprised. Sora wasn't there anymore and Kairi was staring tearfully at her. "Samara…" she said hoarsely. Samara's eyes widened as she sensed something bad within her surroundings. Kairi's tears fell. "Samara…" she said.

Without further ado, Samara just ran out of the room going to the elevators. She stopped when she noticed that the door kept on closing and opening repeatedly as if there was something wrong… to her horror, she saw Riku's feet caught between the doors. "Riku!" she cried out as she rushed towards the elevator, but then something just pulled Riku further inside the elevator and the door shut. "No!!!" he screeched as she pounded against it. She watched the indicator's numbers descending going to the 66th floor and then up again to the 70th floor in a swift motion, and then it stopped there for a while. She froze, not knowing what to do. Her eyes widened when she suddenly heard some croaking sound "Oua-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a…"

She quickly pressed the down button, her hands shaking. The elevator finally arrived again on the 68th floor where she is… and slowly the door opened… and she screamed at what she saw.

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Her scream echoed all throughout the building and it shattered some glass and made the lights flicker.

Tifa's eyes widened when she recognized her daughter's scream. "Samara!" she exclaimed as she got up from the couch by Rufus's bed in their masters' bedroom and rushed outside the room.

From the 70th floor, Slate, their eldest son and the Vice President of the Company who is also the acting President at the moment that his father is ill, also heard the scream of your younger sister. He instantly went to the elevator and pressed the down button, but he waited for several moments. He realized that it could be stuck so he used the stairs. When he reached 68th floor, he saw his younger sister being comforted by his twin sister, Morrigan, and their mother. "What's going on in here?" he asked as he approached.

"Slate," please call someone for help…" Morrigan told him with a worried look on her face. Slate raked his fingers through his blonde hair. "Why?" he asked… and what's inside the elevator came into view. There was no one there but there was blood smeared on the glass walls… the blood was in the form of handprints of a young boy… and there was some writing on the floor too with the use of the blood. It read: "_Kairi__ is mine_."

"Oh my God…" Slate uttered in disbelief as he took a step backward.

Samara continued to stare horridly at the writings before breaking loose from her mother. "Kairi!!!" she screamed as she headed back to Kairi's room.

"Samara!" Morrigan sprinted after her younger sister. "Kairi!!! Kairi!!!" Samara kept on shouting until she reached her friend's bedroom, but she heard muffled screams coming from one corner of the room where the closet is located. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw that Kairi was being dragged into the closet by Sora. "NOOOOOO!!!!!" Samara shrieked as she went after Kairi and grabbed hands feet. Kairi was struggling to break free from the hands holding her back. "Samara!!! Samara!!!" she was screaming.

Samara still tried her best to pull her friend away from the closet, but she could not hold onto her anymore. The force pulling Kairi away from her was simply too strong and more powerful than her. She even used her mind control against it but it was useless. "Let her go!!!" she screeched.

Morrigan arrived at the scene and her mouth dropped open. She can see Kairi inside the closet being pulled by an invisible force and her sister trying to pull her back.

"SAMARA!!!" Kairi shrieked in agony as tears fell from her eyes. Morrigan just rushed to them and pushed Samara away from Kairi and took her place, trying to pull Kairi away from the closet. "Hang on!!!" she said.

Samara moved away from them when she saw her Auntie Aerith emerging from the closet and then grasped Morrigan's hands. Morrigan froze, looking up from beyond Kairi. She gasped.

"MORRIGAN!!!" Samara shrieked as she watched Kairi and Morrigan get sucked inside the closet in one swift motion and then the closet doors just shut by themselves.

Tifa and Slate arrived in the room with some SOLDIERs. They just stood by the doorway, staring in shock at Samara who was frantically pounding against the closet door while trying to open it. "LET THEM GO!!!" she was shrieking in mixed anger and hysteria.

Slate went to his younger sister and pulled her away from the closet, embracing her from behind, "Samara, stop it!" he said sternly but his blue eyes revealed fear and confusion.

"Please!!! Let them go… Sora!!! Auntie Aerith!!! Let them go!!!" Samara cried out hysterically while reaching out to the closet.

Tifa felt her heart sinking as tears filled her eyes. She leaned against the doorway. "Cloud… Aerith… why are you doing this?!" she thought as she began to cry.

"Ma'am, please get out of here. Let's take you back to your room." One of the Soldiers advised before letting him escort her back to the masters' bedroom while still listening to the anguished cries of her daughter, Samara, begging for Sora and Aerith to bring back her friends and her older sister.


	4. Barret

The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By GQ and Zhak

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Chapter Four: Barret

Slate was reviewing the old cases regarding the deaths that had occurred for the past several months. He was certain that it really has something to do with a vengeful spirit, although he knows how unscientific it could be. "I don't know how else I am going to explain this, mother, but… I talked to Samara and she said she saw Auntie Aerith and Sora working together to get Kairi and then Morrigan." He said to Tifa, eight months after the incident. Her tummy had gotten bigger but she still looked more miserable than before. Three of her children are gone, her husband is still dazed, and her closest friends are gone too. "What about the company's financial…" she began. She couldn't believe she was asking that question. The hell does she care about money? But she still wants to know. The money could be useful for the investigations. If finding out about the killings would require lots of money, then she is willing to pay, just to gain justice for her family and friends.

"It's alright, mother. We're still rich, don't worry." Slate said with a slight smile on his face before he noticed the weary look on his mother's face. "Are you alright, mother?" he asked as he assisted her in sitting down on one of the chairs.

"…I need to tell you something… I hope this helps in the investigation… although I doubt if people will still come near that house or even enter it." Tifa said softly.

"What is it?" he asked. Tifa swallowed hard. "…It was your Uncle Cloud that killed your Auntie Aerith… when I asked what he did to her, he asked me what I was doing there alive while I'm supposed to be dead…" she explained.

Slate frowned. "Did you tell that to the Bureau of Investigation?" he asked.

"No… not yet… your father said that I shouldn't… because he doesn't want other people to be victims of that house." She said.

"So he believes that the house is cursed…" he muttered.

"He wouldn't say, but it seems like it…" she said weakly.

He went over to the desk and got one of the folders and showed it to his mother. "Reports also indicate that the people who got the dead bodies in that house also died a day after conducting autopsies… and the people from the morgue died too… even the gravediggers in the cemetery who dug the graves of Uncle Cloud and Auntie Aerith." He told her.

Tifa's eyes widened. "What?" she asked.

"I just compiled the information. They thought the deaths were coincidental, thank goodness… even with the rumor going around nowadays…" he told her.

"Wait a minute… everyone who gets into contact with that house… and the family… they all…" she trailed off when she heard someone arriving. They both turned to the stairway and saw Samara standing there with a teddy bear in her grasp. Tifa knew that her daughter had been in Rufus's room the whole day just staying by his side. She said that Morrigan talks to her and tells her not to leave their father's side. But how come she's in her father's office right now?

They scanned the look on her face. She looked as dazed as Kairi from before the time when she was taken away. "Samara," Tifa began. Samara turned to her mother and her eyes widened when she saw Sora standing beside her mother and holding her tummy. What frightened her was the fact that Sora knew she was looking and so he looked back at her and smiled in a twisted way. She just ran off, leaving them.

"Samara," Tifa got up, but it was too late. Her daughter had run off already. She swallowed hard and clenched her fists before turning back to her son, "Whatever you do, don't go into that house, alright?" she asked with a pleading look on her face. Slate could tell that his mother is very frightened and stressed out. His facial expression softened as he approached her, "Aw, mother… I know this is hard to do but… please settle down and just rest. It might be bad for your new baby." He told her.

She just smiled bitterly at him. "You're right… I'll try for your sake, dear," she said softly before giving her 20 year-old son a kiss on the cheek. "I'll just go downstairs now, okay?" she said before leaving.

Moments after Tifa had left, Barret Wallace arrived with Cid Highwind and Shera. "Mr. Wallace, Mr, and Mrs. Highwind," Slate said, acknowledging their entrance. They sat on the chairs in front of his desk. "I appreciate your coming over here…"

"Oh. I forgot Rufus' kid is handling things now," said the old pilot, snorting.

"Well, why'd you call us over here, kid? We want to start workin' on that case now… that fool Cloud's messin' things up! I ain't wastin' no more time!" said Barret impatiently.

Slate frowned. "Well, Mr. Wallace… I wanted to tell you all first about what you're about to risk, and…"

"Whaddya mean, 'about to risk'? We just need to knock some sense in that #### pinhead's brain!"

"Cid, calm down," said Shera. She turned to the Vice President. "Please go on."

"Er… yes. This may sound silly, but I believe that what's happening is not as simple as homicide. I believe that the supernatural is at work here…" Slate cleared his throat. He wasn't used to talking about the 'supernatural' in the workplace…

"What?! Supernatural, my ass! You ShinRas didn't change so much after all… lying to make things sound better! Why, I bet you just staged Cloud's funeral! If you say that he's killing everybody in this goddamn city, then it means he's alive!"

"Mr. Highwind, we did not stage the Strife's funeral… or any other funeral for that matter. What is causing the deaths of our friends and family here is beyond mortal matters… a curse!"

Barret frowned. "Slate, you believe in curses now?! I thought you were too smart to believe in them urban legends leaking in the high school!"

He fell silent. "… I saw it happen for myself, Uncle. Something… _evil_… took my sister. And it's not Auntie Aerith anymore…"

The three older persons in front of his desk fell silent. Slate lowered his gaze to the files on his desk. "…Even Samara felt it too, I know, even though she wouldn't say anything else to me. Just today she ran out of my office when she saw our mother. It's like she saw something else besides me and our mother here in this office…" he explained before opening the first file. It was Sora. But before he could say something else, Barret just got up in an instant and he gasped, backing away from everyone else. "What's wrong?" Cid asked.

Barret was breathing hard while staring past Slate… where Aerith was standing. Aerith just eyed him blankly and opened her mouth, but all she let out was this croaking sound that only Barret was able to hear. "Oua-a-a-a-a-a-a…"

He covered his ears. The sound was hideous… and she looked hideous too. Slate turned around but could not see anything, although he was sensing something unusual already so he moved away and just went to Barret. "Are you alright? What gave you a fright?" he asked in concern.

"YOU TOOK MARLENE!!!" Barret screamed at Aerith. She just closed her mouth and smiled, then giggled before skipping away, going to the window and disappeared through the glass. Not wanting to waste any more time, Barret instantly ran out of the office.

Cid and Shera instantly got up from their seats and ran after Barret. "Barret!" the latter called out.

Slate just stood still, unmoving. He knows where they are heading… and remembering his mother's words to him, he did not wish to follow. "But they're going to die…" he thought to himself. He couldn't let another person die. He swallowed hard before rushing after them.

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Barret was wheezing by the time he reached the sidewalk in front of the old Strife house. An adrenaline rush made him run from the ShinRa Tower to that street… and he isn't stopping for anybody. "Marlene!" he called out before going past the gate and into the front yard.  
He heard Cid shout behind him, "You ##### idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?"

"Barret, please calm down!" called Shera.

"Uncle!" Slate shouted behind him.

"I'm gonna get back my kid!" he replied. Before he could touch the doorknob, however, a voice stopped him. "Papa."

He looked around. Cid, Shera and Slate were outside the gate and watching him. He shook himself, thinking he was hallucinating when he heard it again… this time clearer, more urgent.

"Papa!"

"Marlene!" he shouted. "Where are you?" He started running around the house.

"####! The bear's losing his mind!" Cid screamed. He ran after Barret. Shera, seeing her husband sprinting, chased after him.

Slate stayed outside the gate. Seeing Cloud through one of the windows, he retreated a few steps. "Bloody hell… more deaths…" he thought to himself.

He waited outside, hoping for a miracle to happen…until he heard the screams of Shera, Cid and Barret. His blue eyes widened in shock. Should he do something?

He turned back to ShinRa, looking up at the tall tower. "But my family needs me…" he thought silently, remembering that he's the one left in charge of everything since his father is ill and his mother is expecting another child… and the only sibling he has left is Samara, who is still a little girl. He frowned slightly. "_Never go into that house_…"

Why, he thought.

He looked back at the house and cringed, clenching his fists. "I know why… maybe those who had come into contact with the house or entered it will… perish…" he thought to himself.

Then he remembered his mother and father. He felt his heart sinking when he discovered the shocking truth. "No… they're going to die!" he took a step further towards the gate of the house. "And I'm just going to stand here? No… I won't let them die!" he thought, but before he could run towards the front door, he felt a hand grasp his wrist as if stopping him. The hand felt so cold and his face turned pale. He slowly turned around the moment he stopped walking. He gasped slightly as the color slowly drained from his face. It was his twin sister, Morrigan standing before him and holding his wrist tightly. She was wearing the same red dress that she was wearing the day she disappeared with Kairi. She was smiling sadly at him.

"M…Morrigan?" he asked softly as he reached out to touch his sister's face. But then she disappeared when he blinked.

He felt stunned. Slowly, he turned his gaze downward… and saw his sister Samara holding his wrist where Morrigan had held him.

He just stared unbelievably at her. Where did she come from?

"How did you get in here? What are you doing here?" he asked in concern as he bent down and clutched her shoulders gently. "Theodore told me to come in here because he said that you're coming here too." she said softly.

He shivered when he heard her say that. "Theo? Theo spoke to you?" he asked.

She just stared up at him.

"Do you see him?" he asked probingly.

"No… I only hear him screaming at night… he said that we should kill mommy's baby." She said softly.

"What? But why?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Whenever I will ask him, he could not answer anymore because he says that Sora is preventing him from doing so." She said softly.

"Sora…" muttered Slate. "Oh, bloody hell… I don't know what to do…" he sat down on the concrete and buried his head in his hands. "I think… I should go in the house… destroy everything… make sure nobody will ever, ever be cursed again... and brutally killed…"

Samara sat down beside him. She stared blankly at the house. "Uncle Barret… Uncle Cid and Auntie Shera… they're dead now… aren't they?" she whispered.

He looked up at her. "Samzy… don't say that."

"They're dead, aren't they?!" she repeated. Her voice cracked as she continued. "Theo, Vinnie and Morrie are dead… Kairi is dead… Riku is dead… Mommy and Daddy are going to die—"

"Samara…"

"And now… and now… You're going in the house! You're going to let Cloud and Aerith and Sora kill you?! Are you abandoning me?" she started sniffing.

"No… no… don't cry…" Slate hugged his little sister and looked at the house. "Maybe not today…" he muttered. He stood up and started walking to the ShinRa Tower, taking Samara with him.

"Look. It's mommy," Samara suddenly said, pointing at a pregnant woman, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a bandanna on her head, walking dazedly at the sidewalk.

"Mother?!" Slate ran over to her. Samara chased after him. Tifa was panting heavily when the two reached her. She smiled bitterly at her two children. "Mother, what are you doing here? And unescorted?!" her eldest son asked in panic.

She breathed heavily. "I… was taking a nap… and I had nightmares… so I tried finding you two. I thought I'd find you here, and I didn't want to involve anyone else…" she panted.

"Nightmares?" asked Samara. "What kind of nightmares, Mommy?"

Tifa bit her lower lip. "Well, honey, it had something to do with…" she hesitated.

"C'mon, Mother, what is it?" Slate inquired probingly.

"With… your Uncle Cloud. He… he was trying to get my baby…" she answered, her voice low and frightened.

"What?" Slate responded in awe. Then, they heard some thudding coming from inside the house so they all turned to look towards it again. Tifa looked up at the window and thought she saw Rufus standing there and looking down at them with a bloody face and smearing the glass of the window with his own blood using his hands but he still maintained his poker-faced expression. She gasped. "Rufus!" and went towards the house. She ran inside.

"Mother!!!" Slate rushed after her.

Samara just remained in the street, watching in horror before turning up to look at her father again. And she saw it in her head… back in ShinRa HQ… her father is dead. She turned paler than usual and opened her mouth to say something to him, but no sound came out. Tears fell from her eyes. "Daddy…" she whispered in a voice that seemed to falter as she reached out a hand to him. And then he disappeared.

Tifa stepped inside the house but before she could go further inside to start climbing the stairs, she felt her abdomen aching. "Ah…" she hissed in pain as she held it, as if to support herself. She backed away from the stairs and turned to the mirror facing it. She could see her own reflection plus another person's reflection. It was Cloud watching her writhe in pain.

Slate finally caught up with his mother and saw blood dripping from her legs going to the floor. "Mother!" he called out.

"Slate… I…" she began. But it isn't her 9th month yet…

"Mother, let's get you out of here!" he told her. As soon as they got out of the house, they went towards a less-secluded street with Samara following after them. The public was surprised to see the First Lady out in the public and about to give birth prematurely with her eldest son and one of her daughters.

Slate ignored the questions and the whispers; he just hailed a cab and once they got inside, he instructed the driver to go straight to the nearest hospital. Since there was a heavy traffic in Sector 1 due to the rush hour, the driver just drove towards the Sector 5 hospital.

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That's the end of chapter four. Please review. :-)


	5. Aerith

The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By GQ and Zhak

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Chapter Five: Aerith

"Let's get the First Lady in the delivery room!" The doctors wheeling Tifa towards the delivery room were beginning to panic. The guards were having a hard time getting the paparazzi to leave the area. Samara was running along with Slate, watching their mother's face writhe in pain. Slate had just been disconnected from calling his father when he wasn't answering. "Samara… I can't contact father…"

Samara didn't say anything. She felt her throat dry.

"Sir, this is just her eighth month. The baby will be born prematurely. We should prepare the incubators and medicines…"

They reached the delivery room. Slate turned to his younger sister and held her by the shoulders. "Samzy, stay here, all right? Just hope that everything will be ok…" he then entered the delivery room with the frantic doctors and nurses.

Samara peeked through the glass of the door. The doctors were panicking very much—after all, it was the First Lady who was having a baby in their small-time hospital. But, she didn't notice them, or Slate, or her mother. She gasped and retreated a few steps when she saw _him… _

Sora. Sora was in the room, smiling happily. As if anticipating the return of somebody dear. Samara saw his mouth move…

_"Mommy!__ Mommy! Mommy's coming back!" _

"N… no…" The world suddenly turned quiet. Samara looked around. No doctors. No nurses. No other patients. No visitors. No paparazzi…

"Wh… what's going on?" she thought to herself. Frightened, she turned again to the delivery room. The curtains weren't closed…

She saw her older brother pale. "AAAAAH!" he screamed and fell over. The doctors were backing away from Tifa with frightened looks on their faces.

Samara craned her neck to look further in the delivery room. Failing to see anything, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate. "Slate? What's going on?" she asked him with the psychic link she had with him. All she heard was Slate screaming in agony. "Slate?!" she could not see anything. Finally, not being able to take it anymore, she barged in the room.

All the doctors were bloody and unmoving on the floor. Slate was with them. A scalpel covered with brown hair strands stuck out from his chest. "SLATE!!!" Samara cried, running over to him. Now she was behind the curtain…

She looked at her mother. "Mommy! Slate is—

Her mouth hung open. Her eyes widened in terror. For a woman started crawling out of Tifa's womb…

"OU-A-A-A-A-A-A-A"

_"Mommy!__ Mommy! Mommy has come back!_" Samara covered her ears upon hearing Sora's twisted chants echoing in the room.

"AIIEEEEEEE!" Her hands still over her ears, she ran out of the room.

Samara ShinRa ran out of the hospital, got lost in the city, and was never heard from again.

Tifa wearily woke up and found herself alone in some room. She wasn't so sure where she was; everything was blurry. She saw strips of red here and there, but she couldn't focus well enough to know what they are.

But she was sure of one thing: the small figure lying by her feet is her child.

She smiled slightly and she picked up the baby from the floor. She began chanting a lullaby to calm down her cries.

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_Six years later…_

"Come on, Aerith. I'm walking you to school."

The little brown-haired girl didn't look up at her mother. She continued walking and holding her mother's hand.

They reached the overpass. Tifa turned to her side and saw the city of Midgar… the city she did not own anymore. Ever since everybody's death, she found herself all alone… but she didn't let it stop her from taking care of her new child which she decided to name after Aerith. The little girl looked so much like her best friend…

As they continued to walk going to the stairs to go down from the overpass, Tifa saw a young girl about 16 years old walking towards them, climbing up the stairs and carrying a school bag. She was wearing the uniform of a school from a public school in Sector 7, and Tifa thought she knew the girl.

The girl, in return, stared back at Tifa as if she knew her… but before she could smile at the former First Lady, she noticed the little brown-haired girl holding the First Lady's hand.

The 16 year-old girl, who is Samara, turned her gaze to the little girl. The little girl's face was being shadowed by long brown bangs, so she could not really see the green eyes looking up at her.

Tifa just stared blankly at Samara, her own daughter, although it seemed to Samara that her mother was different… she looked dazed and there was a lost stare in her eyes. Samara just moved away and proceeded, feeling so hurt at the fact that she could not even greet her own mother because she doesn't seem to know her anymore. She read in Tifa's mind that the only daughter she knows that she has is the little girl whose hand she was holding.

As they went past each other, she sensed Tifa stop by the stairs. Slowly, Samara turned around to take one last look at her mother, but to her horror, she saw the little Aerith push Tifa down the long flight of stairs of the overpass.

"Mother!" Samara couldn't help it anymore. She screamed and attempted to go and see what happened to her mother… but she stopped in her tracks when little Aerith turned swiftly to face her with wide green eyes staring up at her. The little girl opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out from her mouth was a croaking sound, "Oua-a-a-a-a-a-a-a…."

Samara shivered while trying to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. She just turned and ran away, just wanting to forget everything.

The little girl closed her mouth, watching the black-haired young lady go down from the other side of the overpass. With that, she turned back to the woman that she pushed down the long flight of stairs. She slowly descended the stairs, keeping her eye on Tifa who was still lying on the ground with a broken neck. Blood was leaking out from her mouth and from a wound in her head. She smiled softly at her little Aerith.

Aerith just stood still, eyeing her blankly as she watched the life drain from Tifa's eyes. With that, she turned around and left, not caring if people started gathering around her dead mother…

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-end-?!

Tralala! Review if you don't want to be the next victim. Ahahahahahahahah!


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